Your bike can't handle all that. You have 125-150W available. A variable controller for your heated gear and a voltmeter to make sure you don't drop below 12.6-12.8V are needed. I have to turn off one headlight to run a jacket liner, grips and gloves any more than 3/4 power.

Or get a new Triumph Tiger, a BMW GS or maybe a Golding....then you could "maybe" run all that heated gear. And holy crap, why in the world do you need all that?
Also might have been smart to have gotten that info before you buy a bike.

Yeah. From what I've read, this will be too much for the alternator. If it's shorter drives (not all day drives) that you need, they have lots of rechargeable heated liners and jackets and whatnot. Charge them at home and it won't draw from the bike as you use it.

We are going to get a new seat, with heat for both passenger and rider.

Heated seats are a BIG waste of the small amount of accessory power your new V Strom has available!

Heated seats are not like heated jackets, most of them have a switch that turns them "on" and they run at full power the whole time. And they take quite a bit of power, most of it goes to heating the seat and the air around it instead of your body.

I have owned heated seats and while I have nothing against them I find they are more a novelty than a need. Heated pants will do a LOT more good. Now I will say that for a short trip the heated seat will feel good if you don't take the time for heated gear. You just have to budget your power draw on the DL 650 and in my opinion a heated seat is not a viable option for that reason.

Heated seats are not like heated jackets, most of them have a switch that turns them "on" and they run at full power the whole time. And they take quite a bit of power, most of it goes to heating the seat and the air around it instead of your body.

The Sargent kit I bought draws 2.1A (30 watts at 14V) and comes with a duty cycle controller.

If you do have an simple on/off switch, 8A/12V LED dimmers are available on ebay for $4 shipped. I've got one wired into the grips.

I feel the same way about the heated seat as I do about the heated grips. It's always there in case you need it -- like for a 5 hour ride at 30 degrees F.

I have heated grips because they are always available. That comes in handy fairly often. In real cold though, gloves work better. My Warm and Safe dual Heat-Troller runs grips and gloves on one control. The other runs a jacket liner. On rides just above freezing for over and hour, I add heated socks to the grips/gloves circuit. Insulated boots instead of motorcycle boots may be good enough though. With warm torso, hands and feet, the insulated liner for my riding pants is all I need for a very long time. If the temps get below freezing or I'm out for even longer, I can add ski pant overalls but it's been years since I unpacked mine. My butt has never been cold.

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